Seven years after the fact, the Rangers might finally reap the
rewards of the controversial Brian Leetch trade.

The haul from that trade was Maxim Kondratiev, Jarkko
Immonen, a first-round pick that became Lauri Korpikoski, and a second-round
pick that became Mike Sauer. Kondratiev played 29 ineffective games
for the Rangers and is now in the KHL, Immonen managed three goals and five
assists in 20 games with the Rangers, Korpikoski was dealt two summers ago to
Phoenix for Enver Lisin, and Sauer has become a stalwart on the Rangers’ blue
line.

But Immonen was a monster during the recently concluded
World Championships scoring nine goals and three assists, and he has been
dominant in Finland and
in the KHL in recent years.

The 26-year-old was unable to stick with the Rangers despite
impressing in the AHL, but Immonen has grown up a bit since then and has
clearly caught the Rangers’ eyes once again.

CT Whale beat writer Bruce Berlet believes Immonen could be
an option at center should the Rangers fail to land Brad Richards. That’s
a bit of a stretch, but Immonen isn’t going to need any more seasoning in the
AHL if he does sign. If the Rangers bring him back to North America, it will be to play in the NHL.

The Rangers already have Derek Stepan, Brian Boyle, and
Artem Anisimov firmly entrenched at center, so if they believe Immonen is ready
to make an impact there would be a log-jam.

- The cause of Derek Boogaard’s death is still in question,
but this
report indicates that his concussion was more severe than most realize. "It
was frustrating because we couldn't go out without his head spinning again. One
thing that nobody knows is that riding in cabs through New York, he would just start spinning. He'd
have his hands on his head and he'd say, 'I need to get out right now' and we'd
end up walking like 60 blocks home. I knew [the concussion] was bad."